🎓 Explore Your Future 🏫 SUNY Niagara Open House | November 5 & 7, 2026 |
The field of design and drafting is a vital and expanding career where graduates can work in any of a number of rewarding fields including civil/architectural, electrical, mechanical, and process piping. The program emphasizes technical design as instructed in easy to understand methods. All beginning and application-level courses prepare the student in understanding industrial systems in a variety of settings that include light and heavy industry, civil and architectural firms, and related businesses.
The SUNY Niagara degree program is the only one of its kind, providing a unique blend of design, drafting, and various software applications as desired by the industry. The program has several articulation agreements with four-year engineering technology programs including Alfred State College, Buffalo State College, and RIT.
The assessment of student learning outcomes is not only a key indicator of program effectiveness, it is also one of the standards of excellence identified by the Middle States Commission (Standard 5) and is required through the SUNY assessment initiative.
View Learning Outcomes.
Career information and opportunities
Computer Aided Drafting & Design (CADD), A.A.S.
SUNY Niagara’s CADD A.A.S. trains you to create industry-quality designs for mechanical, process piping, electrical and civil/architectural projects. You learn AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Revit, Inventor and Siemens NX.
Last updated: Oct. 22, 2026
What jobs can I get with a CADD A.A.S.?
An associate degree is the typical education for drafters, so you can start working right after you graduate.
Which software will I learn?
You also get hands-on experience with 3D scanning and 3D printing.
How much can I earn?
Median means half of workers earn more and half earn less. All drafters together earn a median of $68,090, well above the $50,980 median for all jobs.
Pay depends on the job, your experience, your education and the employer.
What is the job outlook?
The average for all jobs is 3%. There are still about 14,400 openings for drafters each year. Because you train across mechanical, piping, electrical and civil drafting, you can go where the jobs are.
Where do drafters work?
About half of all drafters work for architectural and engineering firms. Manufacturing employs about 1 in 5.
What makes this program different?
Most drafting programs focus on one area. This one trains you across mechanical, process piping, pressure vessels, structural, electrical and civil/architectural design. You also learn the industrial systems behind the drawings, like hydraulics, pneumatics and engineering mechanics.